Finally Joe Alwyn's 'Tortured Man Club' Group Chat Has Been Explained

23 May 2024, 11:05

Andrew Scott has finally explained the 'The Tortured Man Club' group chat he has with Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn linked to 'TTPD'.

When Taylor Swift announced her 11th studio album 'The Tortured Poets Department' at the 2024 Grammys, fans instantly linked the title to a group chat that her ex boyfriend Joe Alwyn is in. This had them sure the entire album would be about him and their breakup.

In 2022 it was revealed via Variety that Joe, Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott where in a WhatsApp group chat together called the 'The Tortured Man Club' - you see the insane similarity to Taylor's album title?

Ripley's Andrew has now finally explained why he and his actor friends decided to name their group chat such a specific name, and he insists it has nothing to do with their "own characteristics".

• Read more: Every Time Taylor Swift References Matty Healy On The Eras Tour
• Read more: Taylor Swift’s Ex Joe Alwyn Has Reportedly ‘Moved On’ & Is ‘Dating And Happy’

Speaking to Variety Andrew brushed off claims that the album title would've been inspired by the group chat and instead set the record straight on the group chat's name saying that he, Paul and Joe bonded out 'tortured characters' they had played or were set to play.

For example, Joe was about to appear as Nick Conway in the TV adaptation of novelist Sally Rooney’s Conversations With Friends and was set up with Paul Mescal who had played Connell in another TV adaptation of a Sally Rooney novel, Normal People. They connected with Andrew because he had played a 'tortured man' (The Priest) in the comedy-drama Fleabag.

"So they were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in ‘Fleabag,’" Andrew explained, "It wasn’t about our own characteristics!”

However, the group chat was short lived, he said: “I think there were three texts, like, ‘Hey, guys.’ You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse.”

Their chat may not have been inspired by flawed characteristics but Taylor's album certainly was, proved by the brutal lyrics of 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived', which Andrew said is his favourite song on the album.

The Ripley actor said he'd texted Taylor after her drop to say how amazing it was. He gushed: “I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing.”

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